This is a story about a girl named Ursula. 

Ursula’s father wanted her to get married, but Ursula had already devoted herself her true love; and, this being the fourth century, her true love was the Christian church. Instead of marrying, she led a movement of thousands of young women to embrace their independence and choose to serve God instead of serving a husband. 

Hildegard von Bingen – the “patron saint” of Cappella – wrote an abundance of vivid music and poetry about Saint Ursula. These chants celebrate womanhood and independence: women do not need anyone to “complete” them, and they are “complete-in-themselves”. 

In this program, we present Hildegard’s music for Saint Ursula interspersed with micro-commissions from five emerging composers from the Boston area. These commissions will comment on and take their inspiration from the Hildegard chants. 

Featuring music by: Hildegard von Bingen and up-and-coming local composers!